Article carriers of the top gripping elongated type especially adapted for use in conjunction with bottles are known in the art as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,387,879; 3,528,697; 3,640,563; 3,860,281 and 4,180,191 all of which are owned by the assignee of this invention. This general category of carrier is extremely economical to produce and is highly reliable as a carrying means for multiple bottles although historically one drawback to carriers of this type has been the lack of adequate and convenient cushioning means between the shoulder portions of the bottles.